Couric, Vieira and Libby?

It seems who hosts the news, morning, noon and night, is about as important as the content and quality of said news.

The country is testing its feelings about Katie Couric moving to CBS in the evening and Meredith Vieira moving from ABC in the late morning to NBC in the early morning. Believe me, the stability and outlook of the nation don't depend on whose face appears on screen. They might be editors to some extent as well, but really, in the incapulated sound bite newscasting of today, they're just filler.

Meanwhile, the news is pretty darned interesting these days. Are we really experiencing a paradigm shift in the nation's mood, seeing the Republicans and even more conservative, faith-based nut cases as the true fringe element they really are? Not that Democrats and proud liberals are knocking the ball out of the park (except for give 'em hell Howard, still at it and good for him!). Nope, it's just that there are a bunch of crooks who need to be outted over on the right side of the aisle.

For the record, Scooter Libby is one person Couric and Vieira would give an internal organ to interview. Papers in his court case have come to light which insist that both President Bush and Vice President Cheney gave him explicit (though illicit) permission to break the law. And who was Libby to say no?

Back during Watergate, John Dean was the man of the hour, the man of the season. But at first, of course, he, too, was drawn into the sticky web of conspirators. Same with Libby, capable and loyal and a powerful "higher up" himself, with plenty of inside tracks. But maybe, like Dean, Libby will be the man of the hour, the man of this sticky summer season, when the nation closes the gap on its lag time in becoming aware of and coming to more honest, open terms with this bunch of crooks.

And so the faces will change, and history may even, in some ways, repeat itself. But the news ALWAYS matters more than a pretty face, though if anyone's got Katie's phone number, I'm game.